Tag: History

Categories
photography

Vintage Photography Techniques: Wet Plate Collodion Process

After my previous post I decided it would be an interesting project to try and create photographs based on the various techniques that were used between the 1860s and 1950s. This project will be mainly undertaken using digital means rather than mechanical means mainly due to the excessive amounts of equipment, chemicals etc required. That’s not to say I won’t use original materials were possible. For instance I already have the chemicals necessary to produce Cyanotypes and have done so in the past.

So I’ve started with the wet plate collodion types, originally requiring large format cameras and very fast development times once exposures have taken place. I should also say that the wet plate collodion technique was used to produce a number of different outputs using glass plate negatives including ambrotypes and tintypes

I began with this self-portrait:

I used photoshop and the steps described by James Abbott in his youtube video. It was clear that many subtle variations could be achieved using his approach but I eventually arrived at this result:

I also tried an action produced by Gavin Seim from his signature emulsion collection with this result:

Of course it’s a matter of taste as to which approach works best but my personal preference is the middle one, following James Abbott’s steps, as it yields a warmer effect from the slight toning.

I’ll discuss the dry plate collodion method in a future post but needless to day it involves dry plates instead of wet plates! It also necessitates much longer exposures.

Categories
photography

Photography 1860 – 1950

A useful summary of the main types of photographic printing techniques as described by ChatGPT.

1860s–1880s: The Wet and Dry Plate Era

  1. Collodion Wet Plate (1851–1880s)
    • Required immediate development after exposure.
    • Used for ambrotypes, tintypes, and glass negatives.
    • Dominated professional photography before dry plates.
  2. Albumen Print (1850s–1890s)
    • Most common paper-based print of the 19th century.
    • Printed from wet-plate glass negatives.
    • Characterized by a glossy surface and fine detail.
  3. Tintype (Ferrotype) (1850s–1930s, peak in 1860s–1870s)
    • Direct positive on a thin metal plate (iron, not tin).
    • Popular for quick, inexpensive portraits.
  4. Collodion Dry Plate (1860s–1880s)
    • A brief transitional process between wet plates and gelatin dry plates.
    • Allowed limited storage before exposure.

1880s–1920s: The Rise of Film and Commercial Photography

  1. Gelatin Dry Plate (1871–1920s)
    • Replaced wet plates—could be stored and developed later.
    • Enabled faster exposure times and handheld cameras.
    • Used for early night photography and motion studies.
  2. Platinum Print (Platinotype) (1873–1920s, revival in later years)
    • High tonal range and matte finish.
    • Favored by fine art photographers.
  3. Gum Bichromate (1890s–1920s, revived later)
    • Allowed for painterly, artistic effects.
    • Popular with Pictorialists.
  4. Cyanotype (1842–1920s, mainly for blueprints and artistic use)
    • Characterized by deep blue tones.
    • Used for technical drawings and artistic prints.
  5. Autochrome (1903–1930s, first practical color process)
    • Invented by the Lumière brothers.
    • Used dyed potato starch grains to create soft, painterly colors.

1920s–1950s: The Evolution of Film and Color Photography

  1. Bromoil Print (1907–1950s, artistic use)
    • Allowed selective manipulation of image tones.
    • Used by Pictorialists for soft-focus effects.
  2. Kodachrome (1935–2009, peak in the 1940s–1950s)
    • First widely available color reversal (slide) film.
    • Popular for professional and consumer photography.
  3. Agfacolor (1936–1950s, rival to Kodachrome)
    • Early color film alternative to Kodak’s process.
    • Used extensively in European photography and cinema.
  4. Dye Transfer (1940s–1950s, high-end color process)
    • Extremely high-quality color prints.
    • Used for advertising and fine art photography.
  5. Polaroid Instant Film (1948–present, introduced by Edwin Land)
    • Allowed instant image development.
    • Popular for snapshots and professional use.
Categories
Dance photography Social history

Maypole Dancing and other folk dance traditions

When thinking of “vintage dancing girls” your first thought might be of maypole dancers, such as the ones shown above. Although images of girls dancing around maypoles are common there’s no tradition that confines it to girls alone, You can find plenty of examples of boys and girls maypole dancing and, indeed, adults of both sexes.

Often maypole dancing goes alongside other traditions such as choosing a May Queen and would be part of much wider celebrations with many onlookers.

Postcards of maypole dancers tend to be more collectable and therefore more expensive to buy than other cards, especially if the location and date are given. Topographical RPPCs are probably more popular than any other kind and it seems natural that if you collect scenes from a particular town then you will want to have non-topographical materials from the same area. (Similarly cards showing floods or natural disasters from named towns are even more collectable and more expensive).

The wikipedia entry for maypole gives extensive details of the likely origins and appearance in other countries and traditions. Perhaps surprisingly the general conclusion is that the maypole is not phallic despite the explanation to the contrary given in The Wicker Man film and the popular imagination.

There are many other traditional “folk” dances to be discovered. This pipe dance is similar to Scottish sword dancing. The idea is that the dancers must avoid breaking the pipes as they dance around them.

The garland dance was apparently introduced by mill owners in the 19th century. In this case the wikipedia entry is light on detail though garland dancing can often be seen at folk festivals right up to the present day.

Then there’s clog dancing practiced throughout the North of England and Wales as well as being exported to the USA.

I will leave the consideration of female morris dancers for another post even though there are those that maintain it’s purely a male pursuit. (I’m not one of them).

Categories
photography Social history

The X Files

This is from a collection of photographs that the owner has marked with an “X” to identify herself and others. If you look at the larger version of the first photo you’ll see she put an X above her head and on the dress of her baby (or is the baby her?) Because of the X files I’ve decided to call her Dana. Unfortunately we never learn her name. This photo is labelled “Me my mam and dad aunties and uncles.”

This photo’s labelled “me” so I take it this is Dana.

This is Dana’s Auntie Florence.

Two photos of Betty – was she Dana’s sister? The faded photo is dated 1943 and is the only photo given a date.

Marjorie and Betty at Batley. Below we also have Marjorie at the staff dance – again identified by an X.

Dana’s “mam and dad.”

Dana’s grandma – identified by the X on her blouse.

Blackie Binkie and Dickie.

I was hoping one of these gentlemen would turn out to be Dana’s father but she’s written on the back “John’s Father with his workmates from Yorkshire Copper Works.” There’s no clue as to who John is so it doesn’t help. Nevertheless the newspaper clipping provides fascinating detail.

Overall the collection illustrates some of the frustrations of collecting old photographs. Clearly there are intriguing stories behind them but nothing to definitively identify the subjects. From the notes and photography studio stamps we can place them in and around Leeds. Otherwise we can only be grateful for Dana’s “X”s to at least show some of the relationships.

Categories
Social history spooky

Ghost hunting at Belper Mills

My sister and I recently went on a “ghost hunt” at Belper Mills organised by “MJL paranormal.” You can see the video they produced after the event below.

I can’t say I encountered anything spooky but it was worth going just to see inside the East Mill as well as a lot of the rest of the mill complex. The event itself was well organised and stewarded and there was a very entertaining talk from Richard Felix, local paranormal investigator and ex “Most Haunted” presenter.

My only complaint about the event was that it was rather too organised and packed with use of various pieces of equipment. I would have liked the opportunity to just sit quietly in some of the rooms without the use of EMF meters etc.

(We previously attended a similar event at Strutt’s School Belper, run by a different group, which was more eventful especially when it came to “table turning.”)

I can neither confirm nor deny a personal belief in the supernatural.

Categories
Dance photography Social history

Vintage Dancing Girls: The Expressionists

Above is an example of what I call “The Expressionists” for want of a better term. Obviously these groups of dancers are trying to convey something but it isn’t always obvious what they want to say. As often as not there’s no information on the cards to help.

I can tell you that this card comes from an album featuring Raybury School of Dancing Folkstone, Maidstone and Athelston School. Dated in the 1930s but what it’s about I don’t know. A scene from an opera perhaps?

And this one’s from from an album of photographs and clippings related to ballet in Weymouth during the 1950s and 1960s. I guess they are posing for a photographer while warming up.

I call this one “The Dying Swan.” You can often come across variations of this type.

Another mystery. Representing some sort of myth?

Obviously a ritual to welcome the spring I’d argue!

Ah, must be the dance of the birdhouse!

Homage to the fairies at the bottom of the garden.

Variations on the circle dance are also popular.

Any suggestions on the real subjects of these dances welcome.

Categories
Music Hall photography

Violet Lorraine

“So often it’s hard or impossible to find out anything about music hall performers who appear on Real Photographic Post Cards. In the case of Violet Lorraine there’s a fair amount of material to be found. Wikipedia tells us:

She was born Violet Mary Tipton in Kentish Town, London, in 1886 and went on the stage as a chorus girl at the age of sixteen. Her rise to fame came in April 1916 at the Alhambra Theatre in the musical/revue The Bing Boys Are Here. She was given the leading female part, Emma, opposite George Robey playing Lucius Bing. It became one of the most popular musicals of the World War I era. She retired from the stage on her marriage on 22 September 1921 to Edward Raylton Joicey MC (1890–1955) and they had two sons, John and Richard. She returned to acting for the screen, appearing in Britannia of Billingsgate (1933), a musical based on the play of the same name by Christine Jope-Slade and Sewell Stokes, followed by Road House in 1934.

Violet Mary Joicey died in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1956, eight days short of her seventieth birthday.”

Further information can be seen in this article from an old magazine:

Violet was famous for singing “If you were the only girl in the world” with George Robey. You can hear her singing if you search her name on Youtube.

I’ve shown the RPPCs in my collection but there are lots more out there.

Finally, and I don’t know whether to believe this, the John Peel Wiki claims that he played played her track, ‘When We’ve Wound Up The Watch On The Rhine’ on his radio show.

Categories
Dance photography Social history

Vintage Dancing Girls: Couples

Vintage dancing girls come in many different configurations from solo dancers (some just posing), troupes professional and amateur, old, young and sometimes not even girls as you will see below. That diversity is what struck me about this genre of RPPCs and photographs when I began this collection. I’ll be posting some examples of the different types of dancing girls in the future but I’m starting with a few of the couples from the first 100 items in my flickr album.

So clearly this dancing girl on the left is a man. One of the intriguing things about collecting old photographs and postcards – irrespective of the gender of the participants, you have to ask “What on earth were they thinking of when they did this?”

I think it’s safe to say this is two women. The studio is Stahl Studio, 1221 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA.
I’m guessing 1920s from the looks and clothing.

Colourised postcards were very popular. Curiously only the dancer to the right has her dress colourised though it’s possible the other dress was too but the colour has faded.

Ideal Studios. Written on back “Myrtle The Witch Marjorie Fairy Bluebell School Play London St Martins School 1921.” It’s always a bonus to have details such as date, names, studios, locations.

The second photo is also by Ideal Studios Oxford St. Written on back ” Myrtle and Marjorie Dancing Display.”

Musical theatre type outfits are popular though Jazz hands not so much.

A more candid photograph in contrast to the more usual and obviously posed ones. There’s nothing to identify the dancers but from their clothes I’d guess late 1950s or early 1960s.

Again nothing to identify these two. This was image 100 in the collection in 2016. The album was started in 2012 and is, of course, still ongoing.

Categories
Social history

Some Music Hall Curiosities

Sometimes it’s hard to understand music hall performers. I’ve seen at least two other postcards of The Yorkshire Rustics yet what was their act really like? From this image they look more frightening than entertaining. Certainly depictions of simpletons and lunatics would be offensive to the modern eye.

There’s a good discussion between Alexi Sayle and Stewart Lee about music hall acts in Alexi Sayle’s podcast (episode 7) about “working class surrealism.” They’re both music hall fans and the more I think about it the more I can see music hall influences on variety acts of the late twentieth century and, of course, Sayle and Lee and other performers like Frank Skinner, himself a George Formby fan.

Speaking of surreal, how about this skating girl and skating bear? That must have been a sight to see.

And here’s a girl talking to her teddy bear.

Groups of “juveniles” were very popular in the halls and some performers continued to perform as juveniles long after they could sensibly claim to be so young. In terms of collecting I can’t successfully repair the damage to this card digitally, though it’s still of interest.

There’s a fine line between music hall performers and those who would once have been exhibited in “freak shows.” According to sideshowworld.com “Lady Little travelled all over the world. In 1913 she was 23 inches tall and weighed 12.75 lbs.” Contrast the indignities suffered by the Elephant Man and the popularity with royalty of “General” Tom Thumb.

Contortionists were another staple of the music hall and variety.

And of course there were the ever popular exotic acts.

The TV programme “The Good Old Days” did a good job of reproducing some famous acts but it was clearly a highly sanitised version of what a real music hall bill was like.

Categories
occult photography spooky

Scary Dolls, Haunted Dolls

So I was listening to an episode of the loopholes podcast when they began discussing haunted dolls. Though I often find old photos of dolls creepy I never realised there was a whole sub-culture invested in haunted dolls. Indeed I was astonished to find a search for “haunted dolls” on Ebay came up with 1600 such dolls for sale. These dolls came with detailed histories of when and where they came from, what their powers were and so on. Cue a discussion with my wife about buying old dolls at car boot sales and making up stories for them before selling them on ebay.

This angry child from my cabinet card collection would be a good basis for a story. Now where can I find a doll that looks like hers?

This girl and her doll look particularly spooky don’t you think?

This doll has such powers it needs six girls to restrain it.

Now this photograph, and it is a photograph not a postcard, has real potential. The Ebay seller I bought this from suggested it could be a post mortem photograph, a “popular” thing to take in Victorian times and commanding high prices for good examples from collectors today.

Ultimately I don’t think this a PM photo even though the Girl’s eyes seem to have been painted on. The doll though – now that’s a different matter.

I don’t really believe in haunted dolls though, after watching a Youtube video of twenty haunted dolls, I noticed the comments were mostly people apologising to the dolls for looking at them without permission. I didn’t apologise so if you don’t hear from me again you’ll know why.